


The Fall and Rise of Alcyone the Radiant

by architeuthis



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Logic Grid Puzzle, Magic, Puzzles, Treat, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26313427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/architeuthis/pseuds/architeuthis
Summary: Alcyone lost her magic. How did she get it back?
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14
Collections: Fic In A Box





	The Fall and Rise of Alcyone the Radiant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shadaras](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/gifts).



> Check out the endnotes for puzzle-solving aids!

History records that Alcyone the Radiant, the first great archmage of this millennium, lost her magic after swimming the river between life and death to rescue a fallen companion. The magic she lost is lost to us as well, but in her search for new magic, she founded each of the five great magical schools practiced in human lands today. Her quest sent her crisscrossing the world. In five lands, she treated with five ancient, inhuman sages for their knowledge; under their instruction, she wrought five implements of magic. 

And she failed — in four ways. But her notes and musings would open new doors into magic for later scholars, and on her fifth attempt, Alcyone ascended to new heights of power and understanding. 

  1. She studied **first** with Nkemdilim the **Manticore** -Queen, whose venom has felled armies and whose hunger found them insufficient. 
  2. Al-Amin the **djinni** , a twist of living fire and storm, was Alcyone's instructor in **elementalism**. 
  3. Her **staff** was carved from a branch of an ancient windblown tree that grew far from any other. When she later tried to carry it into the **Forest** That Weeps, the spirits there recognized the woodgrain of an exile, and forbade her to carry it with her. 
  4. The **dragon** Vaalruk, a dark slinking creature but a wise one, abhorred the **desert** heat. 
  5. Alcyone thought she had brought only her slain friend back from the wrong side of death, but the introspection of **psionics** revealed to her that her mind was **troubled** by lingering ghosts. 
  6. The **knife** she chipped from crystal at the behest of one mentor was of no use when she met the next, the **djinni** al-Amin. 
  7. Alcyone's writings say that Nirupama the **sphinx** was a gem-eyed creature with a starry mane, who could only be seen in a **mirror** ground from volcanic glass -- but Nirupama has shown itself to no other living soul, so we have only Alcyone's writings to go on. 
  8. Though we believe the **cauldron** Alcyone used in her study of **alchemy** was imbued with transmutative power, this artifact has never been found. 
  9. When she studied in the Lost **Desert** , the back ways of Alcyone's mind were not yet **troubled** by ghosts. 
  10. She scored her **staff** with dot-and-line codes to ease the torment of **memorization** , without much success. 
  11. Atop the Unnumbered **Mountains** , halfway to the stars, Alcyone studied the ways of **divination**. 
  12. She sought magic in the **Forest** That Weeps, dipping her **goblet** full in the dark waters of secret streams. 
  13. The **sky-whale** Omobolanle, wreathed in clouds, touched down upon the **Plains** of Cheres-Hark to offer her instruction. 
  14. Alcyone was not pure ambition; her own writings say that she was prone to nodding off over her **cauldron** from **boredom**. 
  15. And, to her relief, Alcyone was not called upon to perform **memorization** during her study of **necromancy**. 
  16. Aspiring scholars still sometimes follow Alcyone's route from the **Plains** of Cheres-Hark through the Brazen **Coast** to the **Forest** That Weeps like a pilgrimage. 
  17. It is said that when she first approached the **sphinx** , it turned her away: the smell of its old enemy the **djinni** was still on her. She sought tutelage elsewhere before returning. 
  18. Vaalruk the **dragon** is the only one of Alcyone's mentors to have provoked her legendary **temper**. 
  19. Though she had no success at **necromancy** , Alcyone's writings credit her instruction in it with quieting the ghosts in the back of her mind, and thus with the success of her next and final attempt. 



## At what school of magic did Alcyone succeed?

**Author's Note:**

> Here are three aids for solving this puzzle:
> 
> [A table for notekeeping.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ngoq2gyVuuMq09ffSjsv5B6TxeRYrqaKa5KkeVBSPnM/edit?usp=sharing) You'll need to spawn a copy of this to write in it, by clicking on _File >> Make a Copy_.
> 
> [A solution grid.](https://www.jsingler.de/apps/logikloeser/#\(at:s,items:!\(!\('','','','',''\),!\('','','','',''\),!\('','','','',''\),!\('','','','',''\),!\('','','','',''\),!\('','','','',''\)\),ms:t,n:!\(\),nc:6,ni:5,p:!\(\),v:0\)) This website will draw conclusions for you; this is probably the easiest way to solve the puzzle. You can turn the help off with the dropdown above the grid.
> 
> [The same grid with terms filled in.](https://www.jsingler.de/apps/logikloeser/#\(at:s,items:!\(!\('1','2','3','4','5'\),!\(elementalism,psionics,divination,alchemy,necromancy\),!\(manticore,djinni,dragon,sphinx,sky-whale\),!\(forest,desert,mountains,plains,coast\),!\(goblet,mirror,knife,cauldron,staff\),!\(troubled,temper,memorization,boredom,'success!!'\)\),ms:t,n:!\(\),nc:6,ni:5,p:!\(\),v:0\)%22) Filling in the terms is part of the fun for me, but maybe it isn't for you!


End file.
